Multisport: No quick return for Gurney

The odds of a last-minute entry from multiple Coast to Coast winner Steve Gurney in the annual multisport event have been slashed.

Gurney, who has won the gutbusting Coast to Coast a record nine times, had ankle surgery last week to correct cartilage and bone irregularities.

It is the second operation on his troublesome left ankle this year after he went under the knife in April for reconstructive surgery.

But since getting back to training Gurney found he was still experiencing pain when running for longer than an hour.

"There were more bony irregularities that needed chopping out and some defects on the cartilage that needed repairing," he said.

He completed the Abel Tasman run in September but returned to the surgeon when "things were not right".

Gurney said he hoped to be back into adventure racing next year.

"I don't like to say how long before I can race again because I may never be able to. I'll just take it as it comes," he said.

"I am optimistic this will make big improvements but we'll see how much improvement it makes."

He said February's Coast to Coast was not on his agenda even before surgery this month, with his operation in April meaning he did not have "enough base running miles under my belt".

"But I'm definitely out now," he said.

Gurney is coming to terms with the fact that he will be out of multisport racing for some time.

"I was quite dejected for a while," he said.

"For the last 20 years I've done the Coast to Coast and every summer I've had a lineup and in the winter I've gone to the northern hemisphere to race.

"I love my racing. I was in an enjoyable rut ... I was like a pig in mud."

Gurney will, however, still be involved with the Coast to Coast, providing commentary for the live television coverage.

He has also been an athlete liaison at other adventure racing events this year and said it was a good way to keep in touch with his "racing mates".

For now he is concentrating on a speedy recovery from surgery and has used his engineering expertise to design and build himself a "peg-leg" crutch which he hopes will aid his return to training.

- NZPA